Chapter 69: The “lucky” Horse-brained Music, Hannya Arrives!
Shangshan Che retracted his gaze in surprise.
He hadn’t expected Lili Zi to spot him inside the van from such a distance.
Could it be that her breathing technique had already been mastered?
He grinned.
Great, then tomorrow he could gain another skill that could be grinded to the limit.
Mafuyu Shizuma, sitting beside him, saw Shangshan Che’s cheeky grin and couldn’t help but remind him: “Shangshan Jun, please treat the exorcism task with caution. Carelessness will come at a heavy price.”
Yes, very heavy.
In the days after starting her job when Mafuyu Shizuma had been running around, she had already seen too many newbie Onmyoji and exorcists who thought highly of their strength turn into corpses, or piles of minced meat, in what were supposed to be ordinary exorcism tasks.
Shangshan Che was a good person, so even Mafuyu Shizuma, who had grown numb from seeing it all, still reminded him.
“Thanks for the reminder.” Shangshan Che restrained his smile and asked puzzledly, “But do I really look that nonchalant?”
Mafuyu Shizuma nodded.
“Isn’t that good?”
Shangshan Che’s face was calm as he stroked Kaga Kiyomitsu, which had been placed flat on his lap at some point: “If you want to deceive the enemy, the best effect is definitely to deceive your teammates along with them.”
Mafuyu Shizuma hadn’t expected this answer. She let out a sigh of relief: “I underestimated Shangshan Jun.”
As the van drove on, the surrounding crowds and traffic grew sparser.
Finally, it stopped in front of an obviously long-abandoned unfinished building.
Before even getting out of the van, Shangshan Che felt a chill qi surging in from outside.
He stared at the building that practically had “haunted” written on its facade for a moment, then asked,
“Ms. Shizuma, how could the Special Affairs Office allow a building like this to remain until now?”
“Quite the opposite.”
Mafuyu Shizuma answered: “This is a spot deliberately designated by the Special Affairs Office as a foothold for demons descending from the Eternal World.”
“Most demons might prefer to descend directly into bustling downtown areas, but if they get injured during the descent, intelligent demons will mostly choose places like ‘this building’ to recuperate.”
“Therefore, the Special Affairs Office can often discover these demons right away.”
So it was entrapment.
The Tokyo Special Affairs Office had too many schemes and traps.
Shangshan Che couldn’t help but nearly lose it imagining those self-proclaimed clever demons deliberately choosing a secluded spot heavy with qi to descend, only to have Onmyoji show up at their door the next day.
The Mortal Realm is full of schemes; demons should go back to the simple and pure Eternal World.
“Ms. Shizuma, will you stay here and wait?”
Before getting out, Shangshan Che asked one last question.
Mafuyu Shizuma handed him a radio communicator: “Command is now yours, Shangshan Jun. Whether I stay put or leave to call for backup is up to you.”
“Understood.”
Clipping the communicator to his collar, Shangshan Che jumped out of the van and headed toward the abandoned building.
The dark clouds had already covered the evening sunset, darkening the sky, and once he entered the building with few windows, it was pitch black, impossible to see his hand in front of his face.
The chill qi around him grew heavier, like tiny needles pricking Shangshan Che’s skin.
Shangshan Che glanced back, and after confirming the van was completely out of sight, he transformed into Hannya behind the concrete wall.
Drip, drip.
He could clearly hear water dripping slowly but steadily from the ceiling on the fifth floor.
But this abandoned building had eight floors total, and even if the top floor was open to the sky with a downpour outside, this situation shouldn’t occur.
“Turned into a water-related demon, huh.”
Shangshan Che thought after quietly listening for several minutes without detecting any other sounds.
Time to hurry.
He looked out the window; the dark clouds in the sky were gathering thicker, and soon a heavy rain that could drown out all sounds would fall.
By then, even if Horse-Brained Music wasn’t his match, it could slip into the downpour and escape easily.
Arriving at a dark corner on the second floor, Shangshan Che sat down silently and released the long-unused Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball.
In the current situation, the best plan was to first scout the enemy’s position with the eyeball’s vision, then stealthily approach and finish it with a full-power slash.
Shangshan Che had no interest in a face-to-face, hot-blooded true-or-fake showdown.
The Hundred-Eyed Ghost Eyeball hugged the wall and floated up slowly, soon reaching the outside of the fifth floor.
Nothing found.
“So it’s on the sixth floor after all.”
Soon, a small figure huddled amid layers of damp black hair appeared in Shangshan Che’s second field of vision.
It had not only spread its black hair to cover the stairwell entrance on the fifth floor but had also cleverly backed against the wall, blending into the shadows of the corner.
Even an ordinary person reaching the sixth floor would have a high chance of missing it.
However, since that black hair remained perpetually damp, water droplets gradually seeped through cracks in the floor into the fifth-floor ceiling, accumulating and dripping down over time.
Details decide success or failure.
Horse-Brained Music was indeed cunning and cowardly, but that was about the extent of it.
After confirming the position, Shangshan Che drew Kaga Kiyomitsu, then stored the blade and scabbard separately in his storage space.
Next, Shangshan Che silently slipped out through a broken window to the building’s exterior, gripping the rough concrete wall tightly with his five fingers.
Hannya’s terrifying finger strength allowed Shangshan Che to easily anchor himself using friction. He took a deep breath, held it, and slowly climbed upward.
Sixth floor.
Horse-Brained Music was quietly squatting on the ground, slowly absorbing the qi in the building to recover from its injuries.
That Hannya… that Hannya was practically a monster, instantly inflicting heavy wounds on it!
Horse-Brained Music had clearly felt that the Hannya wasn’t stronger than itself—this intuition was usually spot-on—but that time it had nearly gotten itself killed.
However, it was precisely because of that it had inexplicably fallen through a passage, gained the ability to incarnate into other demons it had seen, and arrived in this world scarce of demons but teeming with living souls.
And it had luckily picked an unoccupied building so heavy with qi, perfect for recovering.
A massive downpour was even coming soon.
It could use this chance to blend into the rain curtain, then leisurely hunt for living souls in a safe spot.
Horse-Brained Music couldn’t help but snicker inwardly.
Lucky, so lucky!
Right, that Hannya.
If it encountered that Hannya again, it would absolutely toy with and torment it to death… Lady Horse-Brained Music was extremely vengeful!
Drip.
A bean-sized raindrop splattered against the window, making Horse-Brained Music excitedly shudder.
It’s coming, it’s coming!
The rain is coming—
Boom!
Under Horse-Brained Music’s puzzled gaze, the sky-facing window went dark for an instant before shattering into powder and spraying toward it.
That mask which filled it with utmost fear was now facing it directly, revealing a ghastly smile.
It’s here!
Hannya is here!
